In the past two days, I have seen
so many photos of people walking the stage wearing black graduation robes, that I stopped wearing
black myself.
Just kidding.
Despite the fact that I am happy
here, all these images do make me slightly sad that I did not get to walk the
stage and “officially” graduate, so to speak.
My senior year in undergraduate
(or final year B.E , for Indian folks) was a slightly dramatic year. It
included stressful mornings and tearful nights. It came to the point where I
felt that my undergrad was a book which had been read once, never to be opened
again.
That is not how I want to live my
life, though. I did have some brilliant memories, shaded by bittersweet
emotions when I see them now. I thought I would go on a small walk down memory
lane, with eight somewhat significant incidents, for eight semesters of my
life!
§ The
time where I experimented with embedded systems
This was during the end of my
first semester. IIT Bombay had a workshop going on, and Savio convinced me that
I should join him and his friend to make an r-Hex robot. It was a new
experience for me, and I still remember leaving the house at six am so I could
go meet them and travel to the University together.
Side note: This is also one of my
most favorite pictures with Savio. Much innocent, such cuteness.
§ The
time where I just let loose
I do not remember what course
this was for, but I remember we had to give a presentation. This was the first
time I had to wear formal clothes to college, and my friends and I were in the
phase of “DOCUMENTING EVERYTHING”. I took that as an excuse to climb on the
bench and start dancing to music, because *inspired look* every moment is a
moment for dancing.
§ The
time where I went to Bandstand
Everyone in Mumbai knows
Bandstand as that place where all college students go, where all budding
couples make out secretly under dupattas, and where photos need to be taken.
My friend Chirag had come back to
Mumbai after three years. It made a perfect occasion to go to Bandstand with
drizzling rain washing out the streets beautifully. This was also an excuse to
take clichéd photos of our feet which was actually my cover photo on Facebook
for quite a while. (I regret everything)
§ The time where I traveled without my parents
The term IV makes every college
student ever burst into laughter. It is never an actual industrial visit, but just
the guise of one to go travel to different cities. Somehow, I had convinced my
parents to let me go to Goa with my college friends.
It was a whole night’s journey,
with a bonus running montage towards the train we needed to catch.
The train
stopped for a bit around sunrise, and I was able to take this beautiful picture.
§ The
time I started my own tradition
23 April is not significant to
many people (unless it’s your birthday, in which case, Happy Birthday). However,
to Whovians, the 23rd of April is the Silence Day or Tally Mark Day.
I still remember the first time in 2013, where I drew about fifteen tally marks
on both of my hands and wore a jacket so my parents would not ask me why I was
leaving with Sharpie marks on my arms.
I have
always gone to a coffee shop on this day, baring the tally marks, doing my own thing, trying to find other crazy people.
§ The
time I wore a sari in the rains (not like in Bollywood)
Ah, the last year of college.
Where everyone get suddenly nostalgic, every month is the “last month you will
ever spend at *insert college name here*”, and all the events suddenly become mandatory.
I decided to participate in this
particular human tradition of nostalgia and decided to wear a sari for sari
day. And attend lectures. After the bottom of my sari got wet due to the ankle
length water level outside my building. After my heels broke because of the
water (WHY DID I WEAR HEELS WHEN RAIN). Despite all that, I think I look cute.
§ The
time I went to prom
My college always had Prom and DJ
night during the same evening, where couples danced during prom night, then the
masses gathered in to dance to crazy beats. I always attended the latter, but
never the former. This time though, I went as a rite of passage and I took one
of my favorite guys with me.
§ The
time I got an admit to University
I still remember that night. I
had taken a break from studying for my last final. I was eating dinner with my
parents and going through my phone when I got a notification saying I had a new
email message. I opened it, and this was the sight that faced me.
I remember ugly crying, hugging
my parents, trying to reach my sister so I could tell her I was going to the
States along with her, getting ready for the next part of my life.
Other momentary occasions with no
images:
§ The
time I completed a robotics certification for a KUKA Hexapod Robot but never
received the actual certificate
§ The
time I received government funding for my final year project
§ So
much binge watching
§ All
the sleepovers
Tl;dr: 2011 to 2015 was not that
bad as I make it out to be to myself. With so much photographic evidence, I can
now prove myself wrong.
Leaving you with this song,
because the song is catchy, and also this article is a 1000 word version of the
chorus.
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